Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s office in his Lok Sabha constituency, Diamond Harbor in South 24 Parganas, was demolished by the district administrations on Saturday after it was classified as an illegal construction.
“Notices were served on Amit Banerjee, father of Abhishek Banerjee, who is a director of Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, at least twice to appear for hearing with all documents related to the construction of the building. No one appeared during the hearings on June 30 and July 7,” said an official of the South 24 Parganas district administration, who requested anonymity. After that, a demolition order was issued.”
Read also | ‘You chased me away’: Madan Mitra explains why he left Mamata’s team amid TMC crisis
Abhishek is the CEO of M/s Leaps and Bounds Private Limited and was also a director in the company from April 2012 to January 2014.
People familiar with the developments said bulldozers and excavating machines have been brought in to demolish parts of the five-storey building at Amtala in Diamond Harbour. Security measures were strengthened in the area and central forces and a large police force were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Saturday, police and district administration officials opened the doors and entered the building. BJP supporters allegedly stormed the office and smashed furniture and window panes. Some covered their faces with saffron-coloured clothes and slogans of “Jai Sri Ram” were raised.
“This was the head office of Abhishek Banerjee. This was an illegal structure built on land that was forcibly seized. No permission was taken from anywhere for the construction. It was the nerve center of all his illegal operations be it rigging during elections, threatening people, extortion or running syndicates to amass wealth,” said Abhijit Das, BJP leader from Diamond Harbour.
Read also | Abhishek Banerjee gives a voice sample on the Bengal Assembly poll speech issue
The BJP fielded Das from Diamond Harbor against Abhishek Banerjee in 2024. But he lost by 7,10,930 votes.
Earlier in May, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation had issued notices to Leaps and Bounds Private Limited over allegations of illegal constructions in some buildings associated with the TMC MP in Kolkata.
A notice has also been pasted on the walls of the ‘Shantiniketan’ building located at 188A Harish Mukherjee Road which is widely known as Banerjee’s residence. Banerjee’s parents moved the Calcutta High Court.
“This matter is already pending before the court. However, a new culture has been introduced in Bengal – bulldozer culture since the BJP came to power. What we witnessed today was an act of vengeance and dirty violent politics, with Goonda Raj on full display,” said a TMC leader, requesting anonymity.
“Two hours before the incident, Abhijit Das (Bobby) took to social media and announced that such a campaign would be carried out. We saw BJP workers barging into the office, carrying out vandalism and stealing property. What more can you expect from the party and its workers who did not even save Lord Ram and looted donations from his temple? Today, in his name, they are dancing and carrying out vandalism,” he added.
However, Samit Bhattacharya, state BJP leader, said: “This is an administrative issue and the BJP does not want to get into this matter. But as a party, we do not support illegal construction. No one does. A large number of illegal constructions have come up in the vicinity of Kolkata, many of them by filling up wetlands.”
